FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) released some updates on Y-DNA and where they think it is going.

Dr. David Mittelman of FTDNA mentioned new products, specifically Deep Clade 2.0. He also talked about increased read lengths to 250bp with a goal of 400 bp; new technologies – Oxford Nanopore and PacBio with estimated read lengths of 1 – 10kbp; and finally, the future goal to sequence the full genome compared to sequencing the Y chromosome.

Several companies offer full genome sequencing, but the price starts around $1,200 to as high as $7,400 depending on which company runs the test. There is some debate over the ability of the cheaper tests to accurately or adequately do a full genome test. Short of having a sufficient number of testers spend over $10,000 to test at three companies and using a neutral party to compare results, it is hard to say how the debate will turn out.